October

Tuesday was the first day of autumn. Even in the sun-baked Southwest, this signals a weather change. The days are still killing hot – daytime temperature on the floor of the desert can still reach 190 degrees, a temperature at which flesh cooks and bodies turn to dust.

Accusations that the White House illegally leaked information to stifle dissent over its Iraq war policy are the latest in a series of charges that the administration used deceit and dirty tricks to sell the Iraq war.